Ford tramples Charter rights with notwithstanding clause
Just after sending my last community update, I was back in the legislature for an all-night debate, fighting back against Doug Ford’s use of the notwithstanding clause to silence critics of his government. As you may recall, the government changed the elections act to increase donation limits (this during the height of the third wave) and to limit pre-election advertising by third parties for a full year before the election date. The courts struck down that section of the bill as unconstitutional, so Ford used the ‘nuclear’ option of the notwithstanding clause to override the Charter. It not only sets a dangerous precedent, but it effectively bans workers, families of long-term care residents, parents - anyone who might want to do public awareness campaigns around the election - from speaking out.
New Democrats fought the bill using every tool we had, extending the votes and debates well into Monday where Ford was finally able to use his majority to force the bill through. Throughout, we tried to talk about the issues facing Ontarians that deserve our attention as legislators, including the urgent need for a plan to safely reopen schools this fall. I moved to force our motion on a safe return through but was blocked again by government MPPs.
In question period, I asked how the premier could justify this:
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